The Premiership Is Now Wide Open

I have long been intending to send some written articles into some soccer magazines discussing the way the Premiership is portrayed. Sky Sports still makes out that the Premiership is the most fantastic and exciting league in the world. However, as we approach February it becomes apparent that those who predicted the top 4 back in August as Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are 100% correct. For the other teams this begs the question, "Why bother?"

I am a Sheffield United fan as I intimated in the last entry, but that really has nothing to do with my views on the upper echelons of the Premiership. In England, all sense of competition has been lost, and the consequence of this is that interest in the game is slowly diminishing. That is why clubs such as Villa, Middlesbrough and Wigan have had such trouble filling the grounds. They are being asked to pay asburdly high prices when the basic outcome of the league is already known before a ball is even kicked. This being the case, who cares which of the big 4 wins the league.

Guys on the 606 website often ask the question to fans of other clubs, "Chelsea or Manchester United?" My answer is neither. What we need is a league where 7 or 8 teams feel they have a chance before the start of the season. Therefore the Premiership is not wide open andhasn't been all season.

Fortunately, the cricket world cup is just round the corner. If only South Africa had a top 3 that could bat, we would be racing certainties to win it. As it is, Australia are the most likely.